Which series 2 to buy for easiest hacking?

[Masnark]

Hi,

What would be a good series 2 to buy if I want its hacking to be the easiest possible?

[JJBliss]

TCD240040 or HDVR2

[Masnark]

TCD240040 or HDVR2

The TiVo site does not list the model that I can see, but the one you describe is this one, right?

http://www.tivo.com/2.1.1.asp

The 40 hour version, am I correct?

[fixn278]

The TiVo site does not list the model that I can see, but the one you describe is this one, right?

http://www.tivo.com/2.1.1.asp

The 40 hour version, am I correct?

No. The silver ones (model number starts with 5) need hardware modificiations to be hacked. The black ones (starts with 1 or 2, but 2 is better) are easily hacked via software only.

The Tivo site will most likely only sell the latest model. You will have to find a retailer to get an older series.

[Masnark]

No. The silver ones (model number starts with 5) need hardware modificiations to be hacked. The black ones (starts with 1 or 2, but 2 is better) are easily hacked via software only.

The Tivo site will most likely only sell the latest model. You will have to find a retailer to get an older series.

Thanks for that clarification!

[Masnark]

Hmm.. I searched the following:

CompUSA (In 50 mile radius - item is marked store-pickup only)
Buy.COM
Circuit City
4sure.com
Outpost (frys)
J&R
Best-buy
Radio-Shack

No luck -- anybody knows of somewhere else where I may be able to find it?

As a last resort, I am willing to buy it from Ebay, but only if somebody here will vouch for a specific seller and if I can get it quickly.

Thanks again for your help guys.

[mrblack51]

basically all tivos currently on the market are series "2.5" units. these include the new toshiba dvd burning unit, all humax units, the R10 directivo units, and the silver/540/nightlight units. these all require a prom mod to hack.

your main source is going to be ebay, or possibly an open box or old stock unit.

[spuggy]

You may get lucky; I bought my first TiVo - a refurb 240080 - from Tivo's web site for $199 with a $100 mail-in rebate in January. Yes, I know the photos show series 2.5 units - not what they sent me. I didn't know any better when I ordered it.

I was going to hack it, but within 2 days I couldn't bear to be without it whilst I did so, so I built up a Series 1 Philips from parts units with a cachecard and a 200GB Barracuda. (Now that was a doddle to hack).

Using raw mfs_ftp on the S1/cachecard is ~= 2 x the speed of TTG over a S2/Linksys wired USB dongle, BTW...